Bernadette (Four Tops song)

"Bernadette" is a 1967 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written, composed, and produced by Motown's main production team, the Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland partnership.

The song's lyrics depict a man's excessive desire for and jealousy over his girlfriend.

The song reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was The Four Tops's final Top 10 hit of the 1960s.^[1] On the soul chart, "Bernadette" went to number three.^[2] It also reached #8 in the UK on its first release and was a hit again in 1972, reaching #23.^[3]

The song is notable for its false ending, where the instruments drop out and the background singers hold a chord. The lead singer then shouts "Bernadette" and the song resumes, ending in a fade-out. Critic Maury Dean described the effectiveness of Stubb's shout of "BERNADETTE!!!" as being the key ingredient in getting listeners to buy the record, even if Bernadette herself may not have heard him.^[4]

Allmusic critic John Bush calls it "dramatic" and "impassioned."^[5]

Personnel

Lead vocals by Levi Stubbs
Background vocals by Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Lawrence Payton, and The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps
Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
Written and composed by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr.
Produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier

Notes and references

↑ "Four Tops Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 212.
↑ "Four Tops charts". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
↑ Dean, M. (2003). Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 164. ISBN 0875862071.
↑ Bush, J. "Reach Out". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-03-15.

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Four Tops

Abdul "Duke" Fakir Ronnie McNeir Roquel Payton Harold Bonhart Levi Stubbs Renaldo "Obie" Benson Lawrence Payton Theo Peoples

Studio albums	Four Tops (1964) Four Tops Second Album (1965) On Top (1966) Reach Out (1967) Yesterday's Dreams (1968) The Four Tops Now! (1969) Soul Spin (1969) Still Waters Run Deep (1970) Changing Times (1970) Nature Planned It (1972) Keeper of the Castle (1972) Main Street People (1973) Meeting the Minds (1974) Night Lights Harmony (1975) Catfish (1976) The Show Must Go On (1977) At The Top (1978) Tonight! (1981) One More Mountain (1982) Back Where I Belong (1983) Magic (1985) Hot Nights (1986) Indestructible (1988)

Albums with The Supremes	The Magnificent 7 (1970) The Return of the Magnificent Seven (1971) Dynamite (1971)

Other albums	The Ultimate Collection (1997)

Singles (US/UK Top Ten singles)	"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (1965) "It's the Same Old Song" (1965) "Reach Out I'll Be There" (1966) "Standing in the Shadows of Love" (1966) "Bernadette" (1967) "Walk Away Renée" (1967) "If I Were a Carpenter" (1968) "It's All in the Game" (1970) "Still Water (Love)" (1970) "A Simple Game" (1971) "Keeper of the Castle" (1972) "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" (1973) "When She Was My Girl" (1981) "Loco in Acapulco" (1988)

Related topics	Discography Members Holland–Dozier–Holland The Supremes

Book:Four Tops

Four Tops singles discography

1960s	1964 "Baby I Need Your Loving" "Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)" 1965 "Ask the Lonely" "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" "It's the Same Old Song" "Something About You" 1966 "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" "Reach Out I'll Be There" "Standing in the Shadows of Love" 1967 "Bernadette" "7-Rooms of Gloom" / "I'll Turn to Stone" "You Keep Running Away" 1968 "Walk Away Renée" "If I Were a Carpenter" "Yesterday's Dreams" "I'm in a Different World" 1969 "What Is a Man" "Do What You Gotta Do" "Don't Let Him Take Your Love from Me"

1970s	1970 "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (re-issue) "It's All in the Game" "Still Water (Love)" "River Deep – Mountain High" (with The Supremes) 1971 "Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life)" "You Gotta Have Love in Your Heart" (with The Supremes) "In These Changing Times" "MacArthur Park (Part II)" 1972 "A Simple Game" "Bernadette" (re-issue) "Walk with Me, Talk with Me, Darling" "(It's the Way) Nature Planned It" "Keeper of the Castle" 1973 "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" "Are You Man Enough" "Sweet Understanding Love" 1974 "I Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind" "One Chain Don't Make No Prison" "Midnight Flower" 1975 "Seven Lonely Nights" "We All Gotta Stick Together" 1976 "Catfish" "I'm Glad You Walked into My Life"

1980s	1981 "When She Was My Girl" "Don't Walk Away" 1982 "Let Me Set You Free" "Back to School Again" "Sad Hearts" "Tonight I'm Gonna Love You All Over" 1983 "I Believe in You and Me" "I Just Can't Walk Away" 1985 "Sexy Ways" 1988 "Reach Out I'll Be There" (re-issue) "If Ever a Love There Was" (with Aretha Franklin) "Indestructible" 1989 "Loco in Acapulco"

Book:Four Tops

Holland–Dozier–Holland

Brian Holland Lamont Dozier Eddie Holland

Songs	1962 "Dearest One" "Old Love (Let's Try It Again)" "Darling, I Hum Our Song" 1963 "Leaving Here" "Locking Up My Heart" "What Goes Up Must Come Down" / "Come on Home" "Tie a String Around Your Finger" "Come and Get These Memories" / "Jealous Lover" "You Lost the Sweetest Boy" "Heat Wave" / "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" "(He Won't Be True) Little Girl Blue" "Mickey's Monkey" "Too Hurt to Cry, Too Much in Love to Say Goodbye" / "Come on Home" "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" / "Standing at the Crossroads of Love" "I Gotta Dance to Keep From Crying" "Quicksand" / "Darling I Hum Our Song" "Live Wire" / "Old Love (Let's Try It Again)" "Run, Run, Run" / "I'm Giving You Your Freedom" "Can I Get a Witness" 1964 "A Tear from a Woman's Eyes" "My Lady Bug Stay Away from That Beatle" "Like a Nightmare" / "If You Were Mine" "In My Lonely Room" "Just Ain't Enough Love" "Where Did Our Love Go" "Baby Don't You Do It" "Guarantee for a Lifetime" "Baby I Need Your Loving" / "Call on Me" "Candy to Me" / "If You Don't Want My Love" "Whisper You Love Me Boy" "Baby Love" / "Ask Any Girl" "Come See About Me" / (You're Gone But) Always in My Heart" "Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)" / "Love has Gone" "You're a Wonderful One" "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" 1965 "Where Did You Go" "Stop! In the Name of Love" / "I'm in Love Again" "You've Been a Long Time Coming" "Who Could Ever Doubt My Love" "Nowhere to Run" "Back in My Arms Again" / "Whisper You Love Me Boy" "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" "The Only Time I'm Happy" "Mother Dear" / "He Holds His Own" "Nothing but Heartaches" / "He Holds His Own" "Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)" "It's the Same Old Song" / "Your Love Is Amazing" "Mother Dear" / "Who Could Ever Doubt My Love" "I Hear a Symphony" / "Who Could Ever Doubt My Love" "Something About You" "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" "Darling Baby" "There's a Ghost in My House" 1966 "(I'm a) Roadrunner" "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" "Ask any Man" "My World Is Empty Without You" "Put Yourself in My Place" "There's No Love Left" "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" / "Just as Long as You Need Me" "Helpless" / "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" "Call on Me" "Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart" / "He's All I Got" "Who Could Ever Doubt My Love" "I Like Everything About You" "I Guess I'll Always Love You" "Nothing but Soul" "Love's Gone Bad" / "Put Yourself in My Place" "You Can't Hurry Love" / "Put Yourself in My Place" "Little Darling (I Need You)" "Reach Out I'll Be There" / "Until You Love Someone" "Stay in My Lonely Arms" "You Keep Me Hangin' On" / "I Wanna Mother You, Smother You With Love" "You Keep Me Hangin' On" / "Remove This Doubt" "Standing in the Shadows of Love" / Since You've Been Gone" "I'm Ready for Love" "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need" "Heaven Must Have Sent You" 1967 "Just One Last Look" "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" / There's No Stopping Us Now" "Your Love Is Amazing" "Jimmy Mack" / "Third Finger, Left Hand" "Bernadette" / "I Got a Feeling" "My World Is Empty Without You" "The Happening" / "All I Know About You" "Just Ain't Enough Love" "7-Rooms of Gloom" / "I'll Turn to Stone" "I Understand My Man" "Your Unchanging Love" / "I'll Take Care of You" "Reflections" / "Going Down for the Third Time" "One Way Out" "You Keep Me Running Away" / "If You Don't Want My Love" "I Got a Feeling" "In and Out of Love" / "I Guess I'll Always Love You" 1968 "Whisper You Love Me Boy" "Forever Came Today" "I'm in a Different World" 1969 "We've Got a Way Out Love" "Crumbs off the Table" 1970 "Give Me Just a Little More Time" "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String" "Everything's Tuesday" "Band of Gold" "Westbound #9" 1972 "The Day I Found Myself" "Don't Leave Me Starvin' for Your Love" "Why Can't We Be Lovers" 1973 "You're Gonna Need Me" 1975 "We're Almost There" "Just a Little Bit of You" "Early Morning Love" "Where Do I Go from Here" 1976 "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" "High Energy" "Let Yourself Go" 1982 "We Can Never Light That Old Flame Again"

Related topics	Motown Hot Wax Records Invictus Records List of songs written by Holland, Dozier and Holland

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